The discussion topic was flavor, and as McGee quickly pointed out, flavor consists of both taste and small. But whereas taste is limited to a half dozen or so categories (sweet, savory, umami et al.), the categories of smell might possibly be unlimited, or at least in the thousands. That’s where Aftel and Patterson came in; they co-authored a 2004 book about the interplay of essential oils in foods and fragrance.

It would be foolish and impossible to try to distill what they said during the 180-minute demonstration, but here are 10 drops of knowledge:

“I have probably learned more from Harold than anyone else.” — Daniel Patterson.

“There are about 500 genes involved in the sensations of taste and smell … What that means is that we’re all experiencing slightly different versions of the chemical reality.” — Harold McGee, explaining how genetics vary from person to person when it comes to flavor.

“Using essential oils opens up other avenues of flavor … You can create something new, and that really allows you to be involved in a plant in a way you couldn’t otherwise … It’s a little like magic.” — Mandy Aftel on the benefits of using essential oils in cooking.

“If you could only have one color, your paintings are going to end up looking the same, and you’ll get bored. But if you have 100 shades of orange, you make painting a lot more personal because you choose a particular shade for a reason, whereas someone else might like another shade. It’s the same with plants, especially with all these different heirloom breeds.” — Daniel Patterson.

“It makes sense biologically that if you encounter flavors early in life with negative and positive consequences, that’s going to stick with you … Those who hate [cilantro] say it tastes like soap. Well, there are molecules in it that are also found in soap, so if you have soap in your life for decades, and then you try cilantro, you might not want that in your mouth.” — Harold McGee.

“As a cook, if there’s one thing that’s the most important thing, it’s for people to be happy.” — Daniel Patterson.

“The most beautiful balance is not usually symmetrical. It’s asymmetrical.” — Mandy Aftel on combining flavors and aromas.

“Controlling texture is about controlling the delivery vehicle for flavor … How do we manipulate texture to give the best length relative to what we want to express?” — Daniel Patterson on texture.

“By and large, a plate that is not balanced in terms of color is probably not balanced in terms of flavor.” — Daniel Patterson on color.

“A lot of what we experience has to do with expectation … Sensory psychologists put the same amount of lime flavor into two jellies, one transparent and the other bright green. The one with the intense color got the higher rating for intense flavor, even though there was no difference.” — Harold McGee.